Sunday, February 14, 2010

I have heard it said that religion can impair the thought process, but every now and again, a real standout example floats to the surface of Lake Fallacious. This time, some clown over at "atheist central" has managed to provide some pretty good chuckles.

First, Atheism does not define one's views about the beginnings of space and time; it is only the rejection of supernatural claims, in this case the rejection of your claim that "magic man done it". Theists often use some twisting logic and spoonfuls of stupid to assert that Atheists believe X or Y, and normally they are really silly sounding things. Secondly, even if you managed to find an Atheist or two that did believe the nonsense you claim they do, it does not follow that all Atheists do. This joker managed to pack two facepalms into one sentence -- straw-man and composition fallacies.

"... So he defaults to the predictable 'Well, who made God then?' "

He is using his brain. If someone asks me how my car came into existence, and I reply with "I picked it up at the auto dealer." Have I answered the question? No, of course not – we have to deal with the next logical question: "where did the dealer get it?". Stopping the line of investigation at the dealer, or god, would be silly – you've solved nothing. Of course this kind of thinking would seem odd to a mind poisoned by religion, and so you attempt to downplay his response, and only make yourself look daft. Chalk up another facepalm for failure to seek causality.

"... but he somehow knows that the Creator wasn’t a “who.” How does he know that?""

PZ is pointing out that there is no empirical evidence to conclude that the universe was created by a who, and he's right. A buybull doesn't count as evidence for anything – aside from the believers own credulity. More importantly, PZ is not the party with the burden of proof, as he has made no assertion that requires it; he has merely called out someone else who has claimed something very specific – that the universe was created, and this clown claims to know by whom. You can't prove a negative, therefore it is not PZ's duty to dispel every claim made by retarded people, the burden of proof lies with the party asserting a claim. I've noticed this kind of attempted deflection before, and I'm sure to see it more; though sometimes I wonder if it is purposeful, or if the jabbering idiot is so far out that he doesn't realize he is being illogical.

For all his puffing and posturing he demonstrated he is only full of fallacious hot air. A person like this NEEDS religion.